Warez ringleader gets probation after guilty plea

The war on spam and piracy claims another small victory. Robert Hardick, who …

The first of five individuals arrested in April for their involvement in pirated software distribution has been sentenced to three years' probation. The individuals were indicted on three counts of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement for their use and management of three warez sites over the course of nearly a year.

In a case brought by the Department of Justice, Robert Hardick, a 57 year-old resident of Getzville, NY, who is also known as "tcut" online, was charged by with downloading more than 5,000 files between September 2002 and April 2003 from TEN ("The Ether Net") warez site located in New Haven, CT. Among the files he downloaded were Maya 4.5 Unlimited and Symantec AntiVirus, Corporate Edition, v8.0.1. Hardick also uploaded over 62,000 files to TBR ("The Boxer Rebellion"), including EnSight Gold v7.4.1, between June 2002 and April 2003, while he also downloaded approximately 310 files.

Under the sentencing terms of Hardick's guilty plea to one count of conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement, Hardick will get three years of probation, serving the first six months in home confinement. Cases for three other co-conspirators—Michael Uszakow of Oakdale, MN, William Parrott of Roanoke Rapids, NC, and Dominic Tymorek of Woodstock, GA—are still pending.

The fifth of Hardick's co-conspirators, 55 year-old Steven Fiatarone of Spring Hill, FL, pleaded guilty to one of the three conspiracy counts in July and is awaiting sentencing. Fiatarone's offense carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a three-year period of probation.